Alarming Underrepresentation Of Women In Indian Judiciary (image- AI generated)

A recent analysis based on the data uploaded on the website of  Department of Justice, Union Law Ministry, ThePrint conducted a detailed study and found that eight high courts in India have only one woman judge. Of the 25 high courts analyzed, Gujarat is the only high court with a woman chief justice.

The data indicating the poor representation of women was placed before the court on Thursday. Shockingly, out of 608 lawyers who were elevated to various high courts since 2018, only 108 were women, which forms almost 17%. Moreover, only five high courts in India have women as members of the respective Collegium: Gujarat, Bombay, Karnataka, Punjab, and Haryana.

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The data was furnished by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in response to Rajya Sabha member Neeraj Dangi’s query. In his tabled question, he inquired about the measures taken by the government to appoint more women and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe judges in high courts. He also asked about the number of vacant judicial posts in high courts and the judge-to-population ratio in India.

In his detailed response, Meghwal cited the procedure outlined in various Articles of the Constitution for appointing judges while pointing out that there is no provision for reservations for any caste or class of persons in the judiciary. Since there is no centrally maintained category-wise data, Meghwal informed the House that the information furnished by him was collated based on recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium and final appointment notifications issued by the government.

According to the data, out of a total working strength of 755 judges, only 109 are women, making up just 14% of the higher judiciary. In 2023, the percentage of women judges in high courts was 13%, a marginal increase from 11% in 2011.

The underrepresentation of women in high courts has been attributed to their low numbers in the legal profession and, more importantly, their limited presence in the decision-making body—the Collegium.

In high courts, the Collegium is led by the respective chief justices and comprises the two most senior judges after them. This body is responsible for preparing the merit list and selecting suitable lawyers for the bench. The list is then submitted to the Supreme Court and the Centre for approval.

However, the final decision rests with the Chief Justice of India-led three-member Collegium of the Supreme Court. This authority has the final say on high court appointments, and the Centre notifies the names only after its approval.

Former CJI N.V. Ramana made history by recommending the appointment of three women judges to the Supreme Court. He also advocated for reservations for women in the judiciary. The appointment of Justices Hima Kohli, Bela M. Trivedi, and B.V. Nagarathna in 2021 gave the Supreme Court the highest number of women judges in its history. However, there are now only two women judges in the Supreme Court, and this number will soon decrease following the retirement of Justice Trivedi in May.

During the tenure of former CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, the number of women judges in the Supreme Court remained at two. He had expressed his inability to appoint more women judges due to a lack of eligible candidates in the required age group. Speaking at Justice Kohli’s farewell ceremony, Justice Chandrachud acknowledged that the legal profession does not provide a level playing field for women.

Women Judges Across High Courts in India:

The report found that Allahabad High Court, which has the highest working strength of 79 judges, has only 3 women judges.

Both the Madras and Bombay High Courts have 65 judges each. Madras has 13 women judges, while Bombay has only 11.

In Karnataka, only 8 out of 49 judges are women. Kerala has an even lower representation, with just 4 women among 45 judges.

Delhi High Court has 9 women out of 39 judges, while Calcutta has 6 out of 43. Andhra Pradesh High Court has 5 women among 30 judges, whereas Telangana, with the same total strength, has 10 women judges.

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Eight high courts have just one woman judge each: Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Orissa, Patna, and Sikkim. The total number of judges varies, with Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand having 16 each, Himachal 12, Madhya Pradesh 33, Patna 34, Orissa 18, Manipur 4, and Sikkim 3.

Uttarakhand High Court has no women judges, while Jammu and Kashmir has only 2 out of 15. Meghalaya and Tripura have four judges each, all of them men.